teve Borthwick has confirmed the likely captain for England in their Rugby World Cup opener against Argentina in the upcoming month.
Owen Farrell’s absence will extend to England’s initial two World Cup pool matches, following World Rugby’s triumphant appeal against the verdict that revoked his red card.
The England team’s captain will be sidelined for the duration of a four-game suspension, encompassing the pivotal group stage encounters against Argentina and Japan, in addition to a pair of preparatory matches.
Despite an initial decision by an independent judicial panel to rescind Farrell’s red card, this determination was overridden on Tuesday.
The appellate committee underscored the perennial illegitimacy of the tackle in question.
New captain:
England forward and vice captain Courtney Lawes will captain the side as long he’s fit for the opener
Vunipola also ruled out:
Number eight Billy Vunipola will miss England’s opening game of the World Cup with Argentina following his red card against Ireland.
He was shown a yellow card for a high challenge on Ireland’s Andrew Porter on Saturday which was upgraded to a red.
Vunipola has been banned for three games but it can be reduced to two if he completes the World Rugby coaching programme on tackling.
England’s final warm-up game is against Fiji this Saturday.
Jonny Wilkinson names Martin Johnson in his World Cup dream team
FRONT-ROW
1. Jason Leonard (England): He was seen by Wilkinson as “someone who inspired and brought energy to the game” with impact.
2. Keith Wood (Ireland): “You need someone here in this position who can bring you the set piece control but at the same time I think they need to be aggressive, be someone that runs hard, someone that doesn’t stop, never gives up.”
3. Craig Dowd (New Zealand): “As with all tight heads what you want is someone who doesn’t take no for an answer, someone who is maybe a little quieter but someone you just don’t mess with”
SECOND-ROW
4. Bakkies Botha (South Africa): “Someone incredibly fierce but very very down to earth” and “at times he’s exactly what a team needs.”
5. Martin Johnson (England): “intelligent, another massive leader, gets himself around the park. My captain”